In recent years, in particular from a point of view of protection of global environment, expectation for a solar cell converting solar energy to electric energy as a next-generation energy source has rapidly increased. There are various types of solar cells such as a solar cell including a compound semiconductor and a solar cell including an organic material, and a solar cell including silicon crystal has currently been mainstream.
Solar cells currently manufactured and marketed most are bifacial solar cells constructed such that an n electrode is formed on a surface on a side where solar rays are incident (a light receiving surface) and a p electrode is formed on a surface opposite to the light receiving surface (a back surface), however, a back electrode type solar cell higher in power generation efficiency has also been developed.
For example, PTD 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-340362) discloses a back electrode type solar cell in which no electrode is formed on a light receiving surface of a solar cell but an n electrode and a p electrode are formed only on a back surface of the solar cell.
In addition, PTD 1 discloses a technique for electrically connecting an electrode of the back electrode type solar cell and a wire of an interconnection sheet to each other.
PTD 2 (WO2009/060753) discloses a technique for electrically connecting an electrode of a back electrode type solar cell and a wire of an interconnection sheet to each other by bringing them in direct contact with each other.